The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy (Extended Edition) (2001-2003)

[GundarkHunter]

Originally Posted by Ernest Rister

As far as color timing, Roy Disney oversaw the digital restoration of the True Life Adventures (as they were close to his heart, culturally important, and historically groundbreaking and influential). And yet an entire short True-Life feature - Prowlers of the Everglades - came to market with an accidental mastering error in which the entire cyan layer of the color film was left out, causing the film to have an unnatural, red tint. Red alligators, red swamp water, red cranes - no one could have seen it without realizing something was wrong, but the accident made it to disc. Disney later quietly replaced the discs for those who comlpained.

What actually happened was far simpler. In the mastering process, someone swapped the blue and green channels in the component stream, resulting in the strange colours seen. This was confirmed by viewing the disc over a component video signal and swapping the two cables.

[kurtlingle]

Here is my opinion on this subject.

I've read all 30+ pages (however many there are) and all the posts.

I plan to buy these on the 28th. I'm not sure if this change will bother me or not. Some say it's not that noticeable when watching the movie.

Earlier this year, we repainted our dining room a different shade of green (funny). The old paint was a "greener" green (to much green) and the new paint was a darker bluer green. As I painted over the old green, the new green looked very grey (grey with blue hues) when you saw it next to the old green. My wife was concerned. But if the old green was covered, the new green was fine. So once we painted it all over, it looked just like she wanted.

I learned that comparing the 2 skewed my ability to see the colors right.

I'm hoping that is the case with the comparison shots. On their own I think most of these new shots look great. Not sure about the snow - I wonder if I would have even noticed if I had not read this thread.

And if it was a screw up, then WB will send out new discs, and it will be fixed. So I'm not worried. I gotta have the LOTR EE in HD!!!

[frogmort]

Thanks for pointing that out threefiftyrocket, I just shot milk and cereal out my nose!

[threefiftyrocket]

Originally Posted by frogmort

Thanks for pointing that out threefiftyrocket, I just shot milk and cereal out my nose!

sorry frogmort, no intention of putting your life in danger... just thought it was a funny read

[MerrickG]

Here is my problem with this thread:

Many people are basing their assumptions on screenshots and haven't seen the actual discs themselves and I ALMOST always find such things to create misconceptions about the final product. There have been cases when those complaints have been justified, but most of the time I find things to end up being that it was minor things being blown up into major things.

I believe Bill Hunt and Robert Harris on this when they say they look fine because they have seen the actual disc.

If people still end up in arms when they are able to view the actual discs then I will start to listen to complaints with 100% attention. Until that happens I will take things with a grain of salt.

[threefiftyrocket]

Originally Posted by merrick97

Here is my problem with this thread:

Many people are basing their assumptions on screenshots and haven't seen the actual discs themselves and I ALMOST always find such things to create misconceptions about the final product. There have been cases when those complaints have been justified, but most of the time I find things to end up being that it was minor things being blown up into major things.

I believe Bill Hunt and Robert Harris on this when they say they look fine because they have seen the actual disc.

If people still end up in arms when they are able to view the actual discs then I will start to listen to complaints with 100% attention. Until that happens I will take things with a grain of salt.

I just don't listen b/c everyone has their own taste. EVEN IF it is like the screenshots, probably won't bother me when I don't have a side by side comparison. If someone is bothered by it to the point they don't want to buy it, then great no one is forcing them to. Me? I've been saving a bit for this release for awhile now so I'm still gonna buy it...

[petmic10]

Originally Posted by merrick97

I do wonder how many of the people who are complaining about the new green color have actually seen the discs themselves.

Just my thoughts.

Not many, I'm sure.

I watched the FOTR at AMC the other night and did not notice a
cyan/green tint. I knew what to look for and where to look for it
because of the screen grabs floating around but without a comparison
in front of me I was able to enjoy the movie immensely and thought
it looked great.

[Lyle_JP]

Many people are basing their assumptions on screenshots and haven't seen the actual discs themselves and I ALMOST always find such things to create misconceptions about the final product.

I understand you're just trying to be reasonable here, but we're all way past the point of "no one has seen the real discs yet" nonsense. There are caps coming from dozens of sources now, many of whom have confirmed they have the final product in their hands, and all the caps from all sources show the exact same colors.

We can debate the merits of these color changes all we want, but theses color changes are real, and are representative of the final product. Trying to muddy those waters at this point is nonsensical.

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by petmic10

Not many, I'm sure.

I watched the FOTR at AMC the other night and did not notice a
cyan/green tint. I knew what to look for and where to look for it
because of the screen grabs floating around but without a comparison
in front of me I was able to enjoy the movie immensely and thought
it looked great.

Ultimately thats what matters.

I simply just do not understand what brings out such emotion in people.

[Tiberius]

Definitely not buying this set. Waiting until the ultimate set is released with The Hobbit's extended edition, since that's bound to happen.

...this patience thing is so weird...

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by Lyle_JP

I understand you're just trying to be reasonable here, but we're all way past the point of "no one has seen the real discs yet" nonsense. There are caps coming from dozens of sources now, many of whom have confirmed they have the final product in their hands, and all the caps from all sources show the exact same colors.

We can debate the merits of these color changes all we want, but theses color changes are real, and are representative of the final product. Trying to muddy those waters at this point is nonsensical.

Except that THEY dont. I have seen several caps of the same scene and some of them show things that are radically different from each cap and all of those caps claim to come from the same EE source.

So don't give me this "the caps from all sources show the exact same colors" crap.

[WorkShed]

Originally Posted by merrick97

Ultimately thats what matters.

I simply just do not understand what brings out such emotion in people.

Because people don't want to buy this release again just to have something wrong with it. The DVD set isn't old, yet LOTR:EE has been shoved down our throats as providing the finest in HD presentations. When that's not true, people feel emotional about plunking down $30 per film for 1/3 of the product being inferior.

Again, that's why I'm not buying until the problem is fixed. If people buy a botched release, studios won't care to fix them before shipping.

Originally Posted by merrick97

Except that THEY dont. I have seen several caps of the same scene and some of them show things that are radically different from each cap and all of those caps claim to come from the same EE source.

So don't give me this "the caps from all sources show the exact same colors" crap.

Where are you seeing the caps from the same scene?

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by WorkShed

Because people don't want to buy this release again just to have something wrong with it. The DVD set isn't old, yet LOTR:EE has been shoved down our throats as providing the finest in HD presentations. When that's not true, people feel emotional about plunking down $30 per film for 1/3 of the product being inferior.

Again, that's why I'm not buying until the problem is fixed. If people buy a botched release, studios won't care to fix them before shipping.

I agree with you COMPLETELY here. That attitude is what got us a new Gladiator bluray (as just one example). I am not at all saying that we should support crap. I was VERY much against Warner releasing only the theatrical LotR blurays way back when and I sent a message by not buying those.

The difference for me is that I am just not at a point where I am prepared to say these releases have been "botched" as you claim they have and I won't be until I see them for myself OR once the discs get released into the wild and many people (such as yourself) can view them yourselves and say "yes, the screenshots confirmed my worst fears"

[Velmeran]

Originally Posted by Tiberius

Definitely not buying this set. Waiting until the ultimate set is released with The Hobbit's extended edition, since that's bound to happen.

...this patience thing is so weird...

Wouldn't count on Extended Editions for The Hobbit.

It's already being split into 2 films, so doubt they can add much additional content in extended editions --- least not without running the risk of some pretty costly lawsuits with the Tolkien Estate.

[Lyle_JP]

Originally Posted by merrick97

Except that THEY dont. I have seen several caps of the same scene and some of them show things that are radically different from each cap and all of those caps claim to come from the same EE source.

So don't give me this "the caps from all sources show the exact same colors" crap.

I haven't seen one example of a cap of the same shot from the EE having radically different color depending on the source. Even the minor adjustments made to compensate for 0-255/16-235 or gamma have done nothing to change the colors we've seen in any significant way.

If you want to contradict this, and claim that what we've seen may still not be what we get, link to it. Show me one cap of the same scene from the EE that looks radically different depending on who made it.

Or, let me save you some time. You can't. Because it hasn't happened.

The difference for me is that I am just not at a point where I am prepared to say these releases have been "botched" as you claim they have and I won't be until I see them for myself OR once the discs get released into the wild and many people (such as yourself) can view them yourselves and say "yes, the screenshots confirmed my worst fears"

They're "in the wild". Right now. Plenty of people have ways of obtaining discs before street date. There are photos in this thread of the packaging already in the hands of one of our members. People aren't pulling these screenshots out of their backsides.

[retablo]

Originally Posted by merrick97

Here is my problem with this thread:

Many people are basing their assumptions on screenshots and haven't seen the actual discs themselves and I ALMOST always find such things to create misconceptions about the final product. There have been cases when those complaints have been justified, but most of the time I find things to end up being that it was minor things being blown up into major things.

I believe Bill Hunt and Robert Harris on this when they say they look fine because they have seen the actual disc.

If people still end up in arms when they are able to view the actual discs then I will start to listen to complaints with 100% attention. Until that happens I will take things with a grain of salt.

That's because people love to spew misconceptions all over the Internet, especially when they haven't even seen these discs for themselves... just a couple of screen shots which EVERYONE knows by now (or should) are never an exact representation of how discs really look. It's funny that people spend so much time complaining about something they don't even have accurate information about.

[Velmeran]

Originally Posted by Lyle_JP

I haven't seen one example of a cap of the same shot from the EE having radically different color depending on the source.

Then you obviously haven't been following this thread for the last week. Several differing screenshots of the same scene (usually the scene of Gandalf knocking on the door of bag end, or of The One Ring in the snow).

Now these are spread across 100+ pages, no way I'm going to go digging through them to find em, but they do exist.

Originally Posted by Lyle_JP

They're "in the wild". Right now. Plenty of people have ways of obtaining discs before street date. There are photos in this thread of the packaging already in the hands of one of our members. People aren't pulling these screenshots out of their backsides.

And again I'll come back to you haven't been following this thread long enough. There has yet to be a single screencap taken from the actual blu-ray discs, they've all came from the various torrent rips. --- Scratch that Bill Hunt took a picture from his discs, and with 2 of the rips on either side.

[Illy Scorsese]

Originally Posted by merrick97

Here is my problem with this thread:

Many people are basing their assumptions on screenshots and haven't seen the actual discs themselves and I ALMOST always find such things to create misconceptions about the final product. There have been cases when those complaints have been justified, but most of the time I find things to end up being that it was minor things being blown up into major things.

I believe Bill Hunt and Robert Harris on this when they say they look fine because they have seen the actual disc.

If people still end up in arms when they are able to view the actual discs then I will start to listen to complaints with 100% attention. Until that happens I will take things with a grain of salt.

Some of us don't have close to $100 just to blow on Blu-Rays...

Some of us depend on threads like these and indpedent(not corporate influenced) reviews to help us decide what to spend our hard earned money on... Especially when it's a film we have already purchased on home video in the past.

It is because of threads and discussions like these that I knew to wait on things like "Gladiator" and "Saving Private Ryan". As well as stay totally away from the TE of these films...

So you can pay your money blindly, and either take what your given or ***** about it then... But some of us spend our money wisely... And demand premium quality if we are being asked to pay top dollar.

As you can see under my SN, I own alot of Blu-Rays... So it's not like I demand perfection... But I expect my skies to be Blue not teal, and I expect my snow to be White and not Cyan or whatever damn color it is.

[retablo]

Originally Posted by Roy Batty

But obviously, just knowing for a fact that Jackson himself dictated the new color grading is not going to make it ok to me, meaning that no matter whether Jackson had some kind of Lucas-like epiphany and decided to tint it green, I still find it wrong, distracting, and an unacceptable alteration of the original.

So if the original film had been this color, you'd be okay with it? And what if it was, and Jackson tried to change it to more normal colors... would you also be against that? The ONLY reason anyone is in a huff is because it was oen way to begin with, and a slightly different way now. But if it was this way from the start, would people still be complaining that its green? Or just say "That's the way its supposed to look/"

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by Illy Scorsese

Some of us don't have close to $100 just to blow on Blu-Rays...

Some of us depend on threads like these and indpedent(not corporate influenced) reviews to help us decide what to spend our hard earned money on... Especially when it's a film we have already purchased on home video in the past.

It is because of threads and discussions like these that I knew to wait on things like "Gladiator" and "Saving Private Ryan". As well as stay totally away from the TE of these films...

So you can pay your money blindly, and either take what your given or ***** about it then... But some of us spend our money wisely... And demand premium quality if we are being asked to pay top dollar.

As you can see under my SN, I own alot of Blu-Rays... So it's not like I demand perfection... But I expect my skies to be Blue not teal, and I expect my snow to be White and not Cyan or whatever damn color it is.

Thats fine, but wait until they are out in the wild and released to EVERYONE and if people you trust decide it looks terrible then don't buy them.